Thomas Stone

As eldest son, Thomas Stone inherited a plantation.

He studied law and worked to later sign the Declaration.

                 

             "Mr. Stone was a professor of religion, and distinguished for a sincere and fervent piety. To strangers, he had the appearance of austerity; but among his intimate friends, he was affable, cheerful, and familiar."

Rev. Charles A. Goodrich Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence. New York: William Reed & Co., 1856. Pages 351-357. 

        

Image by Ole Erekson, Engraver, c1876, Library of Congress

        Thomas was eager to learn.  He talked his father into letting him pursue his education at a school several miles away, he borrowed money to continue his education, and read law at the office of Thomas Johnson in Annapolis.  He was admitted to the bar in 1764 and opened his own practice in Maryland.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Stone  

     

       "Seek to do all the good you can, remembering that there is no happiness equal to that which good actions accord...Let your aim in life be to attain the goodness rather than greatness among men: The former is solid, the latter all vanity, and often leads to ruin. This I speak from experience."   From a letter Stone wrote to his son.

        At first Stone, like most Marylanders, wanted to work out a peaceful negotiation with Britain; but as the British were sending more soldiers over to America, a mentimutation emerged.  He realized that America needed to defend her natural rights.  In a letter to the Maryland Council of Safety dated July 12, 1776,  from Philadelphia, he wrote, "May God send Victory to the Arm lifted in Support of righteousness, Virtue and freedom, and crush even to destruction the power which wantonly would trample the rights of mankind."

 

        Soon after Stone signed the Declaration of Independence, he was assigned to help draft the Articles of Confederation.

Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate.  Be not wise in your own conceits.

Romans 12:16
 

Haberdeventure, a “dwelling place of or in the winds,” was built by Thomas Stone.

"It was passed down through five generations of Stones until the property was sold in 1936. The property remained in private ownership until New Year’s Day 1977 when a fire gutted the central brick section of the house and damaged the west wing. Haberdeventure was authorized as a national historic site in 1978, and was purchased by the National Park Service in 1981. The restored house has been open to the public since 1997."  http://www.thingstodo.com/states/MD/nationalparks/thomasstone.html